Tube capping apparatus



Dec. 29, 1953 E. MlDGLlY TUBE CAPPING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Oct. 10 1951 INVENTOR ERIC L. MIDGLEY Wflmd ATTORN Y E. L. MIDGLEY TUBE CAPPING APPARATUS Dec. 29, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 10, 1951 INVENTOR ERIC L. MIDGLEY BY 6 Patented Dec. 29, 1953 TUBE CAPPING APPARATUS Eric L. Midgley, Salem, Mass., assignor to Sylvania Electric Products Inc., Salem, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application October 10, 1951, Serial No. 250,617

6 Claims. (Cl. 226-87) This invention relates to the application of closures and more particularly to the application of pressure-sensitive closures to the ends of an elongated tube.

In the manufacture of fluorescent tubes, elongated glass tubes are provided with a coating of fluorescent powder on the inner walls thereof. Some of these tubes are further processed by the sealing of electrodes therein at the ends thereof to provide fluorescent lamps whereas other types of fluorescent tubes are capped and sold to sign manufacturers who seal electrodes to the tubes during the sign manufacturing operation. Heretofore, capping of the latter type of tubes has been performed manually by the insertion of stoppers, of cork for example, in the ends thereof. Manual capping in itself is a distinct disadvantage and prevents the development of high speed production schedules. However, the disadvantages which exist due to the use of stoppers as the closure device are of even greater importance because of their effects on the quality of the tubes. In some cases stoppers become dislodged during shipment of the tubes allowing dirt to enter and contaminate the fluorescent powder. Since stoppers are not necessarily air-tight, moisture gets into the tubes and has a deleterious effect on the fluorescent powder. In some cases it has been found that small particles of the stoppers have caused discoloration of the fluorescent coating to develop during the sign manufacturing operation thus rendering the tube unusable. Because of variations in the size of stoppers, some stoppers are inserted so far into the tubes that removal thereof is quite diflicult whereas others are too large to be inserted far enough and tend to fall out or, if too much force is exerted to effect the insertion, the tube breaks.

An object of this invention is to provide tubes with an air-tight closure.

Another object is'to aflix an air-tight closure to the ends of a tube automatically.

A further object is to provide tubes with an air-tight closure, the application of which is not adversely affected by small variations in tube diameter within a given size.

' A further object is to provide a tube capping apparatus which'may be readily adjusted to permit capping of;tubes' of different diameters.

A further object is to provide a tube capping I apparatus in which means are provided for automatically positioning the tube for the tube capping operations regardless of variations in tube length. H V

In accordance-with the principles of my invention, a specific embodiment of which is shown in the accompanying drawings and described below, fluorescent tubes are indexed to a plurality of work stations on a conveyor where the tube capping operations are performed. At one of these stations a wafer of pressure-sensitive tape is punched from a supply thereof and affixed to one end of the tube. At a subsequent station the wafer is folded back into engagement with the Wall of the tube and secured thereto. Subsequently, the same operations are performed on the other end of the tube.

In the specific embodiment of the tube capping apparatus illustrated in the accompanying drawmgs,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a tube capping apparatus showing several tube capping units disposed along the sides thereof.

Figure 2 is an end elevational view thereof looking in the direction of arrows 2-2 of Figure 1 showing the conveyor and tube capping actuating mechanisms.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary detail of the conveyor indexing mechanism taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2, showing the relative disposition of the several members thereof upon completion of an index.

Figure 4 is an enlarged elevational view partly in section of one face of the tube capping mounting plate showing the tape feed and the wafer punching mechanism. V

Figure 5 is an enlarged elevational view partly in section of the other side of the tube capping mounting plate showing the wafer wrapping mechanism and the tape feed indexing mechanism.

Figure 6 is an enlarged and elevational view of the tube capping mounting plate and the mechanisms associated therewith, looking in the direction of the arrows 6-6 of Figures 4 and 5.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary elevational view looking in the direction of the arrows 'I---! of Figure 1 showing the means for gripping the tubes during the tube capping operations.

Figure 8 is an enlarged front elevational view of the wafer wrapping head partly broken away to show the knurled rollers and associated parts.

Figure 9 is an enlarged sectional View of the wafer wrapping head taken along the line 9-9 of Figure 8. t

Figure 10 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of an end of a tube with a wafer affixed to the end thereof by the punch shown particularly in Figure 4.

Figure 11 is an enlarged fragmentary detail of an end of a tube with a wafer wrapped thereabout by the wafer wrapping head shown particularly in Figure 5.

In Figures 1 and 2 there is shown a conveyor which moves tubes 26 through a plurality of stations, including the tube capping stations. The conveyor comprises a pair of endless chains 22 and24, with offset pins 26 upstanding thereon, traveling around sprocket wheels 28, 39, 32 and 34. A pair of asbestos strips 36 and t8, fixedly mounted in position by means not shown, lie immediately above and in register with chains 22 and 24 respectively. The-tubes Zilr'est onthe strips 36 and 38 and are'caused' to move thereacross by the pins 26 upstanding on the chains 22 and 24. Sprocket wheelsziiand 30 are mounted on idler shaft 56 supported in bearingbrackets 42 mounted on one end of longitudinal angle iron members 44 and 46 respectively. Sprocket wheels 32 and 34 are mounted on drivenshaft t? sup- "ported in bearing brackets 56 mounted on the "other end of longitudinal angle ironmembers id and'46 respectively. Members M and 46 are attached to and supported by standards 52. v

' Referring now particularly to Figure 2, motor 54, mounted on transverse angle iron member 56, has a sprocket wheel 58 mounted on the drive shaft 66 thereof. Chain 62 connects sprocket wheel 58 to sprocket wheel 66 mounted on conveyor drive shaft 66. "As may be seen in Figure 1, the conveyor drive shaft 66 extends the length of the conveyor along the longitudinal axis thereof and issuitably supported by means which have been omitted for clarity of illustration. The conveyor-drive shaft 66 has a cam 68 mounted thereon which is in engagement with cam roller iii mounted on lever I2 intermediate its ends. Lever i2 is pivotally mounted at in transverse angle ironmember'iG and has one end of connecting 4 rod i3 attached to its free end. Rod T8 connects lever I2 to arm 86 of bell crank lever-82. The bell crank lever 82 is provided with a hub 33 through "which it is rotatablymounted on driven shaft :53. Arm 86 of bellcrank lever 82 has a pawl 88 mount ed on the free end thereof which engages ratchet wheel 96 keyed to shaft 68.

I Referring now particularly to Figure 1, rolls er I are provided forvshifting the tubes 2i; laterally on' the conveyor to position them accurately for the capping operation by moving them into endwise engagement with aligning plates 93 upstand- "ing on angle iron members iil and :36. Each of the severalrolls, 92 is disposed immediately beneath the tubes 26 and in engagement therewith. Since each roll 92 has its own actuating mechanism and since the actuating mechanism is substantially thesamein construction in each case, only one will be described. Roll 92 is mounted on a shaft 94 (Fig. 2) supported in the upper part of bearing brackets 96 upstanding on transverse angle iron members 98. Shaft 94 is connected through a gear train (not shown) disposed on the inside faces of the bearing brackets 96 to a shaft I60 supported inthe lower part of bearing.

brackets 96. Shaft I69 has a sprocket wheel Hi2 'mOunted thereon'which is connected through chain I04 to sprocket wheel I96 mounted on the conveyor driveshaft 66. Although the several rolls 92 have a common drive, shaft 6f}, the gear trains disposed'on the inside faces of the bearing brackets 96 are designed to provide for rotation I of the rolls in the directions indicated by the arrows in Figure 1, i. e., adjacent rolls rotate in opposite directions, the purpose of which will be In order to obtain maximum tube capping production and to cap both ends of each tube, two or more tube capping units I67 are mounted in staggered relationship along each side of the conveyor as shown in Figure 1. Each unit I9? comprises a tape indexing mechanism, a punch mechanism for cutting a wafer from the tape, a wrapping mechanism for swirling the wafer about the end of the tube, and a gripping mechanism for holding the tube fixed during these operations. 7

The punch mechanism for cutting a wafer from a supply of tape is mounted on face I68 of mounting plate I Iii which is attached to the side of the conveyor supporting framework (Figs. 1, l and 6). The tape indexing mechanism is mounted on face N2 of plate lle'asshown in Figures 2, 5 and 6. The wafer wrapping mechanism and the tube gripping mechanism are disposed adjacent to the face II2of plate iii} but spaced therefrom (Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6).

Since the several mechanisms of each tube capping unit I6? just mentioned are all driven by motor 54, that portion of the driving structure which is common to the several mechanisms will now be described, followed thereafter by a description. of that portion of the structure which is not common. in Figure 2, the drive shaft 66 of motor 68 has a pair ofsprocket wheels I I4 mounted thereon. Since theconnections to the right and to the left from sprocket wheels H4 are the same, only one will be described. Chain I I6 connects one ofthe sprocket wheels I I4 to sprocket wheel 5 I6 on shaft! 23 which is supported in bearing brackets i22 depending from a pai of transverse angle iron members of the conveyor supporting framework. Shaft I26 hasa cam I2 1 which actuates the tube gripping mechanism and a sprocket wheel l25. mounted thereon. Cam I24 is engaged by cam roller I28 mounted on the free end of lever I36 pivotally mounted at I32 in transverse angle iron member 98. Sprocket wheel I26 is connected to sprocket wheel I3 3 on shaft 435 by chain $38., Shaft i36 extends through mounting plate I I6 and is supported in bearing brackets I 39 attached to the side of the conveyor supporting framework. ,6 p

Shaft I36 (Fig. 2) has three cams mounted thereon, cam I 32 foractuating the wafer wrapping mechanism, cam I44 for actuating the tape indexing mechanism and box cam I46 foractuating the wafer -punching mechanism. A

\ rocker shaft I48 extends through mounting plate 5 l6 and is supported in a pair of bearing brackets I56 mounted on opposite faces of plate IID. Bell crank lever I52-and bell crank lever I54 (Figs. 2, 5 and 6) and lever I56 (Figs. 4 and 6) are mounted on rocker shaft I46. Bell crank levers I52 and 654 are provided with cam rollers I58 and I69 at one end thereof which are in engagement with cams I42 and I44 respectively. Lever I53 has a cam roller I62 at one end thereof which is disposedwithin the box cam I46.

The mechanism .for gripping the tubes to hold them securely in position during the wafer-applying operation and the wafer wrapping operation will now be described. Referring now to Figures 1 and 2, the tube gripping mechanismcomprises a pair of spaced lower plates I64 mounted on arm I66 attached to the top of tube I68 and an upper plate I I6 disposed between spaced lower plates I64 and mounted onarm I'II attached to the top of rod I12 which extends through tubefl68' and is movable therein. Plates I64Hand plate I70 have co-operating cut-outs 'I 14' formed therein through which the tubes extend and in which they may be securely held. Referring now particularly to the tube gripping mechanism shown at the right in Figure 2, the lower end of tube I68 has a collar I16 attached thereto, to opposite .sides of which one end of a pair of links I18 are connected. The lower end of rod I12 has a collar I80 attached thereto, to opposite sides of which one end of a pair of links I82 are connected. The other end of each of the two pairs of links I18 and I82 are pivotally connected at I84 to an end of yoke I86 through which rod I12 extends. The other end of yoke I86 is attached to an end of spring loaded rod I88 which is pivotally mounted on lever I30 at I90. The tube I68 is supported in proper vertical alignment by bearing I92 mounted on plate I94 attached to the side of standard 52.

The tape feed and its actuating mechanism will now be described. Referring now to Figure 4, a roll of tape I96 is mounted on feed drum I98 rotatably mounted on face I08 of plate III]. The tape I96 is fed around guide roll 200 mounted on shaft 202, then upwardly over pull roll 204 which has pins 206 projecting from the periphery thereof and which is mounted on shaft 208, and is finally wound on waste drum 2I0 mounted on shaft 2I2.

Referring now to Figure 5 which shows the face II2 of plate H0 on which the mechanism for actuating the tape feed is mounted, plate 2I4 is connected to hell crank lever I54 through pin 2| 6 which is normally disposed in the position shown in L-shaped slot 2I8 in plate 2I4. Pin 220 on plunger 222 of solenoid 224 rides in slot 226 in plate 2I4. Connecting rod 228 connects plate 2I4 to hell crank lever 230 which is mounted on shaft 208 which extends through plate H0 from the other face thereof. Bell crank lever 230 has a pawl 232 mounted on one arm thereof which engages ratchet wheel 234 mounted on shaft 208. Link 236 connects the other arm of bell crank lever 230 to one arm of bell crank lever 238 mounted on shaft 202 which extends through plate I I0 from the other face thereof. The other arm of bell crank lever 238 has a pawl 240 mounted thereon which engages ratchet wheel 2 mounted on shaft 202. Shaft 208 has a gear 244 mounted thereon adjacent to ratchet wheel 234. Gear 244 meshes with gear 246 which meshes with gear 248 which meshes with gear 250, gear 250 being mounted on shaft 252. Pulley 254 mounted on shaft 252 and pulley 256 mounted 0nd shaft 2I2 which extends through plate IIO from the other face thereof are connected by belt 258.

The mechanism for punching a wafer from tape I96 will now be described. Referring now to Figures 4 and 6, link 260 connects lever I56 to punch 262 which rides in punch block 264 attached to face I08 of plate IIO. Head 266 of punch 262 has a button 268 of resilient material such as rubber mounted on the front face thereof. The punch block 264 is provided with a transverse slot through which tape I96 passes. A cutting die 212 is mounted in punch block 264 adjacent to slot 210, so that when punch 282 is actuated a wafer 214 will be cut from the tape I96 and fed to the tube 20.

The mechanism for wrapping wafer 214 around an end of tube 20 will now be described. Referring now to Figures 1, 2 and 5, wafer wrapping head 216 is mounted on one end of shaft 218 which is supported in bearing bracket 280 I mounted on face I I2 of plate IIO. The other end of shaft 218 is connected to an arm of hell crank lever I52, the other arm of which has cam roller I58 attached thereto and in engagement with cam I42. Shaft 218 (Fig. 5) has a pulley 282 mounted thereon through key 284 in elongated slot 286. The key 284 fits loosely in slot 286 to permit reciprocation of shaft 218. Shaft 218 is rotatably driven by belt 288 which connects pulley 282 thereon to pulley 290 on shaft I20 through a pair of pulleys 292 mounted on face I I2 of plate I I0 and a pair of pulleys 294 mounted on transverse angle iron member 98 (Fig. 2).

Referring now to Figures 8 and 9, wafer wrapping head 216 comprises a plate 296 mounted on shaft 218 and a plate 298 which is maintained in frictional engagement with plate 296 by adjusting screw 306. Plate 298 has an elongated arcuate slot 302 (Fig. 6) therein through which adjusting screw 300 extends. Plate 296 has three slots 304 therein and plate 298 has three slots 306 therein, the slots 384 in plate 296 being partially in register with the slots 306 in plate 298. Plate 388, which has a central aperture 3I0 therein through which an end of tube 20 may extend, is mounted on plate 298 by means of three pivot pins 3 I2. Three knurled rollers 3H, disposed between plates 296 and 308, are rotatably mounted on roller pins 3I6, one end of each of these pins extending through a slot 304 and a slot306 in plate 296 and plate 298 respectively, and being supported by plate 296. A pair of links 3I8 and 328 connects each of the roller pins 3I6 to one of the pivot pins 3I2. Each of the pivot pin 3| 2 is provided with a torsion spring 322, one end of which is anchored in plate 296, the other end thereof being hooked around pin 324 mounted in and extending between links 3I8 and 320. Since th knurled rollers 3I4 are mounted on roller pins 3I6 to which the links 3I8 and 320 are connected, the torsion springs 322 urge the rollers 3I4 toward one another and hence into positive engagement with the end of the tube 20 when it is disposed therebetween.

Adjustment of the head 216 to accommodate tubes 26 of various diameters is made by loosening screw 386 and rotating plate 298 on plate 296. Rotation of plate 288 sets up a camming action with roller pins 3 I 6 riding on the wall 326 of slots 396 thus causing rollers 3I4 to move closer to or further away from one another depending on the direction of rotation of plate 298.

The operation of the tube capping apparatus will now be described. Tubes 20 are fed individually to asbestos strips 36 and 38 (Fig. 1) by some suitable means not shown where they are engaged by pins 26 upstanding on chains 22 and 24. Indexing of the chains 22 and 24 to effect movement of each tube 20 along the asbestos strips 36 and 38 to a plurality of stations is accomplished by motor 54 (Fig. 2) through drive shaft 66, sprocket wheel 58, chain 62, sprocket wheel 64, conveyor drive shaft 66, cam 68, cam roller 10, lever 12, connecting rod 18, bell crank lever 82, pawl 88, ratchet wheel 90, shaft :38 and sprocket wheels 32 and 34 around which chains 22 and 24 travel.

As was pointed out above, two or more tube capping units I01 may be mounted in staggered relationship along each side of the conveyor. In Figure 1 there are two such units on each side of the conveyor. The conveyor is indexed two stations at a time so that the first capping unit on each side thereof operates on one tube and the second capping unit on each side operates on the next tube. The operation of the tube *aeeacse "capping apparatus willbehescribedwith-reference to the tubeoperatedcnby the first capping unit on eachside of theconveyor, it being understood that the following tube isoperated on in the same manner, by'the'secondcapping units.

As atube 26 is moved from station A through station B to' station C (Fig. 1), it engages the roll -92 which is rotating :in the direction indicated by the arrow. Rotation of the roll 92 is effected by driveshaft 65 (Figs. 1 and 2) through sprocketwheel ifiihchain- Hit-sprocket wheel i 82, shaft led, a gear train-(not shown) on the inside face of bearing brackets 96, and shaft 8:; on which roll 92 is mounted. At and between stations C and D, the tube 2% is moved endwise into engagement with aligning plate as, thereby locat- 'ing this end of the'tube for the capping operations at subsequent stations.

The tube 33 is then indexed from station C to station E where a water 2% (Fig. i) is punched from the roll of tape and aiiixed to the end of the tube 2:? as shown in Figures 4. and 16. However, before the wafer 2M is punched from the roll of tape i913, the tube 28 is gripped in the cutouts iii in plates i6 1 and plate ll'ii (Fig. 7) mounted on arms we and iii respectively which are attached to the top of tube 553 and rod H2 respectively (Figs. 1 and 2). Movement of the plate ltd upwardly and plate lie down- Wardly is accomplished by the simultaneous upward movement of tube 58 and downward move ment of rod H2. Actuation of tube 36 and rod H2 is effected by shaftlZt through cam i2 5, cam roller i128, rod I38, yoke I86 and links F55 and 82 which are connected to tube E58 and rod H2" respectively by collars E76 and sec respectively. Shaft E25 is drivenby motor 55 through motor drive shaft 60, sprocket wheel ili, chain i it and sprocket wheel H8.

After the tube 26 is secured in position as just' described, the punch 282 (Fig. 4) is driven forward and the head 2'65 thereof, in conjunction with the cutting die 272 cuts a Wafer 2% from the tape 195 and affixes it on the adjacent end "of tube 28,- the resilient button 263 cushioning the blow against the end of the tube and preventing the metal head 2% from striking the tube and damaging it. Reciprocation of the punch 262 in the punch block 26 5 is effected by rotation of shaft itt (Fig. i), the motion being this indexing period the tape 158 is moved upwardly to present another portion thereof to the cutting die 2'l2 and the punch 252 (Fig. 4). Unwinding of'the tape 96 from the feed. drum I38 and winding of the waste on waste drum 2 l c (Fig. 4;) is effected by an indexing mechanism on the opposite face of plate H (Figs. 2 and and is effected particularly by rotation of shaft 238 which has pull roll 2% mounted thereon on face lila of plate ild(Fig. 4) and ratchet wheel 23d movement of which is transmitted through cam i' i i, cam roller I69, bell crank lever mounted thereon on face H2 of plate Nil. Shaft 298' isdriven by shaft I33 (Fig. 5), the rotational thereto ib l, plate 2 i l, connecting rod 228, and bell crank Iever"230' whichis mounted on shaft "208 and H72, lever and link 2653 which is con 'mounted on shaft-2E2 (Fig. 5).

shown in Figure 11.

. mounted.

through pulley belt 294 and pulleyZSii on shaft i251.

--which has a pawl 232 attached thereto and in engagement-with=ratchet-wheel 234.

Although advancement of the tape I56 may be accomplishedby positively driving'pull roll 2M *mounted-is connected to shaft 2 l 2 on which waste drum 2H3 is mounted by gears 2M, 24 5, 2&8 and 250, pulley belt 253 and pulley 256 which is Shaft 283 on which pull roll 26 i is mounted is connected to shaft 282 on which guide roll 2% is mounted by bell crank lever 23%, link 235, bell crank lever 238,

pawl fi lli and-ratchet wheel 2&2 which is mounted on shaft 262. Thus advancement of tape I may be effected by positively driving the waste drum 2? and the guide roll 2% as well as the pull roll If-no tube is present, to which a wafer 21s may be attached, the tape is prevented from indexing by energiaation of solenoid 22 3 (Fig. 5).

Suitable conventional detecting means not shown are provided to register the absence of a tube and transmit this registration into energiaation of the solenoid to erfect an upward movement of plunger 222 which has a pin223 attached thereto and riding in slotZ -ie plate 21d. Retraction of the plunger causes the'pin 22b to tilt the plate Ali) slot in plate andto ride therein during :the power stroke cffoell crank lever ids instead of pushing plate 5. it forward.

Atstation G the wrapping head Elli (Figs. 1, 2,

n um rio 5; 5, 8, andxQ) is caused to move in, encircle the end of the tube 2t, fold the wafer 2% back into engagement with the outer wall of the tube and swirl it thereabout to provide a capped tube as Inward movement of the wrapping head 273 to encircle the end of the tube 23 and effect a folding of the wafer 2E5 5 into engagement with the Wall of the tube is effected by the shaf on which the head is is driven by shaft i3 5 through bellcrank lever :52, earn follower i523, and cam mounted on shaft i315. Swirling of the wafer on the tube 253 is, effected by the knurled rollers 35 3 which rotate with the shaft Shaft-278 is rotated by shaft I25 (Fig. 2)

pulleys 252, pulleys -With this'end ofthe tubeZil capped at Station the tube is advanced to station I (Fig. l) where a second roller S2, rotating in the direction indicated by means described above, urges the tube into end-wise engagement with plate 93 adjacentjto the first capping unit 'lb'i on the other side of the conveyor. This capping unit then performs the same operations on this end of the tube as those already described with reference to the other end of the tube; The tube following the one on which the above-described operations have been performed is subsequently capped in the same manner by the second capping unit 96? on comprising: a conveyor; means for indexing said conveyor to carry the articles to a plurality of Workstations; a punch located at one of the work .stations; means for indexing a tape transversely between said punch and the adjacent end of an article at said station; means for reciprocating said punch to cut a wafer from the tape and aifix it to the end of the article transversely thereof; a wafer-wrapping head located at a subsequent work station; and means for reciprocating said wafer-wrapping head into and out of engagement with the wafer on the end of the article to fold it back into contact with the side wall of the article.

2. Apparatus for eiiecting closure of articles comprising: a conveyor; means for indexing said conveyor to carry the articles to a plurality of Work stations; a punch located at one of the work stations; means for indexing a tape transversely between said punch and the adjacent end of an article at said station; means for reciprocating said punch to cut a wafer from the tape and affix it to the end of the article transversely thereof; a wafer-wrapping head located at a subsequent work station; means for reciprocating said waferwrapping head into and out of engagement with the wafer on the end of the article to fold it back into contact with the side wall of the article; and means for gripping and retaining the article stationary during the wafer-affixing and waferwrapping operations.

3. Apparatus for efiecting closure of articles comprising: a conveyor; means for indexing said conveyor to carry the articles to a plurality of work stations; means for automatically aligning the articles endwise with respect to the work stations; a punch located at one of the work stations; means for indexing a tape transversely between said punch and the adjacent end of an article at said station; means for reciprocating said punch to cut a wafer from the tape and aifix it to the end of the article transversely thereof; a wafer-wrapping head located at a subsequent work station; and means for reciprocating said wafer-wrapping head into and out of engagement with the wafer on the end of the article to fold it back into contact with the side wall of the article.

4. Apparatus for effecting closure of articles comprising: a conveyor; means for indexing said conveyor to carry the articles to a plurality of work stations; means for automatically aligning the articles endwise with respect to the work stations; a punch located at one of the work stations; means for indexing a tape transversely between said punch and the adjacent end of an article at said station; means for reciprocating said punch to cut a wafer from the tape and affix it to the end of the article transversely thereof;

a wafer-wrapping head located at a subsequent stationary during the wafer-affixing and waferwrapping operations.

5. Apparatus for effecting closure of both ends of an elongated tube, said apparatus comprising: a conveyor; means for indexing the conveyor to carry the articles to a plurality of work stations; means for automatically aligning the tubes endwise with respect to the work stations; a first tube-capping unit disposed at one side of said conveyor and a second tube-capping unit disposed at the opposite side of said conveyor and in staggered relation with respect to the first tube-capping unit, each of said tube-capping units comprising a punch in register with a tube at one of the work stations, means for moving a tape transversely between said punch and the adjacent end of the tube, means for reciprocating said punch to cut a wafer from the tape and affix it to the end of the tube transversely thereof, and means at a station subsequent to the station at which said punch is located for folding the wafer back into engagement with the side wall of the tube.

6. Apparatus for efiecting closure of both ends of an elongated tube, said apparatus comprising: a conveyor; means for indexing the conveyor to carry the articles to a plurality of work stations; means for automatically aligning the tubes endwise with respect to the work stations; 2, first tube-capping unit disposed at one side of said conveyor and a second tube-capping unit disposed at the opposite side of said conveyor and in staggered relation with respect to the first tubecapping unit, each of said tube-capping units comprising a punch in register with a tube at one of the work stations, means for moving a tape transversely between said punch and the adjacent end of the tube, means for reciprocating said punch to cut a wafer from the tape and affix it to the end of the tube transversely thereof, and means at a station subsequent to the station at which said punch is located for folding the wafer back into engagement with the side wall of the tube; and means for gripping and retaining the tubes stationary during the wafer-aflixing and wafer-wrapping operations.

ERIC L. MIDGLEY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

